Pomegranate Punch

Pomegranates protect against different types of cancer, studies indicate. Consuming pomegranate (which could refer to the fruit, the seeds, or the juice) at least three times a week was potentially linked to a 50 percent reduced risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer, according to a survey of nearly 3,000 people led by Esther de Vries, an epidemiologist at the Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Pomegranates are rich in antioxidants that may help fight sun-induced oxidative damage, she says. In a separate study, treating breast-cancer cells with pomegranate juice decreased their ability to metastasize. Compounds in the fruit reduce inflammation, notes study coauthor Manuela Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology at the University of California, Riverside. She recommends drinking eight ounces of 100 percent pomegranate juice daily.